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martinsj013
Reviews
Four Weddings and a Funeral (1994)
Splendid, I thought. What did you think?
I endorse those reviews that say this is a comedy first, a romance second (though the romance was enough for my wife to enjoy the film as much as I did). Thus, the comedy rings in the first wedding were funny, despite being unrealistic as some have noted. The comedy priest in the second was equally unrealistic but I found him embarrassing rather than funny. This despite being a fan of Rowan Atkinson from Not the Nine O'Clock News, Blackadder, Bean, Barclaycard adverts, etc etc. That sort of humour seemed out of place here (as in Never Say Never Again). All part of life's rich pageant - some reviewers say that Rowan's cameo is the only good thing in this movie, whilst I found it the only bit I didn't enjoy.
I particularly enjoyed Simon Callow as Gareth. It reminded me of (as far as I can remember it) Chance in a Million. Can anyone else remember this (probably British TV only)?
By the way, I wanted brownie points for recognising the church used for the funeral, but I see that someone has already done this (St Clements, nr Lakeside Shopping Centre, Essex). However, to those who say that after the funeral the river was not moving, I say the tide was out and that was mud!
Vanilla Sky (2001)
Deus ex Machina
***SPOILERS*** ***SPOILERS*** Is he dreaming, or not? Is that really Cruz or is it Diaz? Did <the central incident> really happen? Why was Time Square empty?
And later on: Why, despite being held in custody and visited over many weeks (that was the impression I got, anyway) by a psychiatrist (Kurt Russell), was Aames (Tom Cruise) allowed to visit LE with only one guard who was not even a policeman? Why, if LE are so secretive, did they let Aames and his escorts in?
At first I expected that some or all of these questions would be left ambiguous even at the end - why should everything be given to us on a plate?
But after the scene where Aames (Cruise) wakes up in the middle of the night and looks in the mirror, I had begun to fear having nightmares (OK, I'm embarrassed, but I don't go to the movies very often). So I hoped that all would be explained, to let me get a good night's sleep.
In short, it was all explained and I got a good night's sleep. But it really shouldn't have been - the phrase "Deus ex machina" could have been invented to explain this plot development! Plus, no disrespect to Noah ("Shine") Taylor, surely such expositions are traditionally given by older, avuncular, gravelly-voiced, English-accented figures? (1 out of 4 for Noah.) POSSIBLE SPOILER: And surely his character should have been billed as "Tech Support"!
Why does Jason Lee's character more than once burst out in criticism of Aames' behaviour, rather than trying patiently to help him as a friend? Arguably, this is also explained by the ending (I won't spoil by saying how), but it irritated me as I was watching (whereas the flashbacks, dream sequences and the long introduction did not). I guess the real answer is that you are to infer that the "friendship" bit has happened on many previous occasions, off camera, as it were, but that doesn't make for good cinema, so is omitted in a kind of cinematographic shorthand. But it unfortunately only reminded me of certain British and Australian soap operas where arguments and misunderstandings happen at every turn.
In conclusion, I think (or I thought) the ending tied everything up just too tidily. But then I read Roger Ebert's review (Chicago Sun-Times) and he pointed out something that I had not noticed or even considered...
Single-Handed (1953)
Why IMDb is so much fun
I saw this film recently on Channel 4 (UK) - by the way I think it was under the alternative title of "Sailor of the King" - and like the earlier reviewers I very much enjoyed it. It reminded me in a way of Battle of the River Plate - at least the scenes on board ship.
I thought it was worth adding two points to the earlier reviews (the second one is a possible *SPOILER*).
First, that Jeffrey Hunter's character is actually supposed to be Canadian - or at any rate, brought up in Canada - I suppose that neatly explains how a man with the "transatlantic" accent was found on board a Royal Navy ship.
Second, towards the very end of the film, the audience is addressed directly and invited, "for the first time in cinema history" or somesuch, to see two different conclusions, and to vote for their preferred one on leaving the showing. I'd be interested to know if this was actually the first time this was done, and what the results were!
Oh, the fun of IMDb? Well, it dawned on me gradually during the film that I had seen Jeffrey Hunter before, and eventually that it was in the Start Trek pilot episode, as Captain Pike. A few minutes on IMDb not only confirmed this but also told me that he played Jesus in King of Kings, which was new to me.
IMDb also confirmed something I had already worked out - that Bernard Lee progressed from Petty Officer (here) to Captain (Battle of the River Plate) to head of MI6 (surely no need to say where!).